Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg at:

So what you're saying is, the meat "absorbs" heat way more (and uncontrollably) faster if it's already mostly cooked....

Look, you need to learn how much rise you get from a sear. It's more or less the same if you do it when you start (trex) cooking or at the end (reverse sear). You have less opportunity to accidentally overcook meat if you sear to start, but there are advantages to reverse sear if you have the tenacity to reliably pull it off.

The reverse sear - the meat surface is drier - you get less evaporation and more maillard reaction, and less total heat added. So less rise, but you're riding a razor's edge. You need to know how much that meat will rise with your sear so you don't overcook. The lovely roasted taste is fresher on a reverse sear, and the pre-sear cook gets more smoke. Them is good thangs.

All and all, I think too much is made of all this. Just throw your steak on and cook it the way you want.

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat

I can see your point nola. I do think learning what temp changes occur during a sear can only help one down the road. That will only be ballpark though as there are a ton of variables as every piece of meat has its own character.

I've seared 1st on all my tri tips and have always had outstanding results. Don't fix it if aint broken! :P

I prefer to reverse sear as I find it provides a more uniform level of doneness than when searing first. In other words, I find a med rare tri-tip reverse seared will have a larger pink area than a seared first tri-tip. I do the same with thick steaks.

As pointed out by others, the risk is overshooting your target temp. Once you get used to consistently cooking at a certain temp (I usually cook mine in the 275-325 range) to a set pre-sear temp (about 115 for me) and how long to sear (1 min/side for me) at a given temp (550-625 for me) you can turn them out how you like consistently.

IMO, the reward is worth the risk (at least for my tastes). I know folks who don't sear their tri-tips at all so to each their own.

So what you're saying is, the meat "absorbs" heat way more (and uncontrollably) faster if it's already mostly cooked....

If you were referring to my post, that's not at all what I'm saying. I don't think it "absorbs" heat more quickly or in a less controllable manner. I just think it adds a variable that I (a much less seasoned cook than you appear to be) would rather eliminate.

So what you're saying is, the meat "absorbs" heat way more (and uncontrollably) faster if it's already mostly cooked....

If you were referring to my post, that's not at all what I'm saying. I don't think it "absorbs" heat more quickly or in a less controllable manner. I just think it adds a variable that I (a much less seasoned cook than you appear to be) would rather eliminate.

Sorry, I was just being a wiener. The TRex method is proven, and you do have more control over the final internal temp the lower you cook it at the end.

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat

For me on a 2" steak, when I Trex followed by a slower cook, the outside 1/4-1/2" of the steak is overdone, even though the center is perfect, medium rare. I've tried different Trex times, but the results are hit and miss. Some folks do this very well, I just seem to be an idiot with it.

I refer to reverse sear as the poor man's sous vide, I know it is not - it's just the result is, to me, similar. A 2" room temp fully seasoned steak cooked indirect at 225 and allowed to slowly rise to 115-125 (7 to degrees below the final desired temp) then reverse seared gives me the best result. If you cut into a slow cooked steak, before the sear, the color is remarkably consistent, edge to edge as is the temp. I then sear for color and crust.

SWMBO likes medium well, so I let hers "slow cook" until an internal of 135 or so, put it on 5-10 minutes early. Works for me.

Does the initial low temp cook have to be indirect , or will raised direct work as well ?

That works fine too.

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat

Does the initial low temp cook have to be indirect , or will raised direct work as well ?

Like Nola says, either direct or indirect will work. I put my CI grid on fire ring, some tile spacers, then the setter, drip pan and SS grid. I do indirect and when ready, pull the SS grid, drip pan and setter (setter is easier to get off the CI grid with the tile strips) The Ci grid is hot, it has been right over the burnng lump and there is a lot of reflection from the setter. Get some air flowing and ready to sear.

I dreamed up a hair-brained idea the other day. Pull from the sous vide, then throw the bag in some ice water for (time to be determined - maybe 30 seconds). Theoretically, that should cool down the outside layer of the food, ideally by the same amount of heat I'm adding in a sear. Not much of an extra step - maybe just regular tepid water would work. I don't have much of a problem with the rise, but a rise is a rise.

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat

Seriously - you have to wait UNTIL Christmas before you can use it?! GTFOH!

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat

I did one yeaterday and didn't sear at all. Cooked it like a roast indirect with a handful of whiskey barrel chips at grid 135 and pulled at 124 internal. Came out great. Grid temp was hot enough for a good Mailard reaction and it looked good. No sear necessary for that one. Ran it through the slicer today for sammies and cold cuts.

I don't even know if she has it yet. I spent half the day looking at methods and information about it. I am so pumped. I might even have to pull the medium egg out of the garage as a searing unit. Get a big round of steel cut to fit inside

hahahah Steve, I was planning on posting a 21 part series called "Sous Vide is F**king Dark Magic", where I explore the intricacies of the technique on Ethiopian fermented flat breads. I'll do ya a favor man and hold off on that project until the new year. :-j

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat

I'm made dosa before but I cheated and bought the mix at the International Market - a cool warehouse store in Metairie run by and Paki family that sells and wholesales imported food from everywhere. I think I have more in the pantry, I need to look. Miss B has a photographic memory for expiration dates so the mix might be thrown out by now. Lamb - that sounds good...

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat

I dreamed up a hair-brained idea the other day. Pull from the sous vide, then throw the bag in some ice water for (time to be determined - maybe 30 seconds). Theoretically, that should cool down the outside layer of the food, ideally by the same amount of heat I'm adding in a sear. Not much of an extra step - maybe just regular tepid water would work. I don't have much of a problem with the rise, but a rise is a rise.

NOLA - grand plan, LS is one up on you, this time of year he doesn't need to worry about an ice bath, all he has to do is take the long way around the house to the egg, by the time he gets there the outside may have a touch of frost...

He's got the advantage for the next 5 months or so. It was in the low 70s here today, rainy with 78% humidity. I'll take that and an ice bath please.

______________________________________________This is my signature line just so you're not confused.Large and Medium BGE, Kamado Joe Jr., smoker with a 5k btu AC, gas grill, fire pit, pack of angry cats, two turntables and a microphone, my friend.New Orleans, LA - we know how to eat